Politicians in Latin America

Abstract

Politicians are essential actors in any democracy. From a principal-agent perspective, they are the agents that act on behalf of citizens. To a great extent, satisfaction with democracy and system support depends on politicians’ ability to respond to public demands and to fulfill citizens’ expectations. Therefore, a democracy of quality requires that political leaders develop the necessary skills to respond to these demands. Politicians’ role is especially relevant in new democracies where the rules of the game are not as stable as in Western democracies. They have to continually learn and assimilate how to play in the new context under the democratic rules and institutions. I would like to propose a panel that looks at several dimensions regarding politicians: their position within the political system, how they are shaped by and shape political institutions, specifically within parliaments and political parties. I propose to investigate processes of education, professionalization and socialization; the performance of their role as representatives, their shared and differential values, their ideology, their stances on policy issues, their cursus honorum, among others. Further, I am interested in realizing analyses that will demonstrate how different types of politicians may lead to different democratic outcomes. Papers that address these issues are welcome. I hope to attract papers that comparatively analyze Latin America democracies. Although we can analyze politicians in different political arenas, I would like to attract the attention of scholars interested in studying the parliamentary elite. Finally, I would like to contribute to the advance of the study of these issues both theoretically and empirically.

Title	Details
Post-Materialist Values in Parliamentary Elites in Latin America	View Paper Details
Mapping the Brazilian Political Class, 1990-2009: The Brazilian Legislative Surveys	View Paper Details
Where are they Coming From? Where are they Going? Career Patterns of Latin American Ministers	View Paper Details
Elite Circulation and Recruitment in Argentina and Ecuador	View Paper Details
Technopols, Politicians in Govern? Strategies of Movement and Insertion in the Different Political Arenas in Postauthoritarian’ Chile	View Paper Details
Professionalization of Legislators in the Chilean Post-Authoritarian Democracy:: Strategies in a Changing Environment	View Paper Details